


A Matter of Pride

by Erandri



Series: Buddie First Kiss Week [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Evan "Buck" Buckley, Buddie First Kiss Week, Buddie First Kiss Week 2020, First Kiss, Jealous Eddie Diaz, M/M, Pride Parades, the other characters make brief appearances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24490900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erandri/pseuds/Erandri
Summary: “Buck, they’re here,” the guy that lead them here says. It’s a coincidence, it has to be, Eddie thinks to himself, but sure enough, the guy looks over his shoulder and Eddie can finally see Bucks face. If anyone else on the team is shocked to see Buck here, in the middle of a pride parade, they don’t show it. Eddie isn’t sure if it’s professionalism or the fact that they all knew something Eddie didn’t or that they just really don’t care about Buck’s sexual orientation. Their lack of focus on it draws Eddie back to the matter at hand instead of trying to read Buck’s t-shirt. (It says Bi-erasure makes me Bi-furious, and it absolutely does not make Eddie’s heart race to see those word printed so proudly across Buck’s chest).
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Buddie First Kiss Week [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769176
Comments: 16
Kudos: 399





	A Matter of Pride

**Author's Note:**

> My second Buddie fic! I hope you all like it as much as I liked writing it.
> 
> Written for [Buddie First Kiss Week](https://buddiefirstkissweek.tumblr.com/) , Day 1: Related to Pride

Eddie plops down onto the couch in the lounge, sighing as he sinks into the soft cushions. He’s tired. The alarm has been going off all shift with barely a minutes rest in between calls and he’s starting to get run down. It’s not even that they’re being sent to life-threatening calls, it’s all been minor accidents. Some fender benders, a kid who got his hand stuck in a car muffler, a couple of cases of heatstroke. Eddie is almost wishing for the next call to be something big just so he doesn’t have to stand around useless on the next call while Hen and Chim do their work.

“Aw, are you missing Buck?” Hen teases, sitting down across from him.

And, okay, it could be the fact that Buck has the day off that makes it feel like today is dragging on and on.

It’s pretty rare when they work a shift without the other around, Bobby likes to keep them all working in the same teams as much as possible so that they’re used to how the other person will react when they’re in a stressful situation. Eddie’s always liked it that way, it made him feel like Buck, Hen, Chim, and Bobby truly were his team, just like he had when he was in the service. Plus he and Buck having the same work schedules meant that they got to hang out on and off duty. So now, halfway into a 24-hour shift, Eddie is wishing that he had the day off too. At least if he was home with Chris he wouldn’t be thinking about how much he misses being with Buck.

“Do you know why he asked for today off?” he asks Hen, trying and failing to sound casual. It’s just that Buck had been avoidant when Eddie had asked him why he switched shifts.

“Yes,” Hen says simply and Eddie sits up, all his attention now on her.

“You do? Why?”

Hen looks wary and Eddie can see her thinking about how she should answer him. Her hesitance just ramps Eddie’s nerves higher. Why would Buck tell Hen why he’s taking the day off but not him? They’re best friends, they tell each other everything. Okay, maybe not everything but the only topic they never really brought up with each other was their relationships. Eddie never wanted to talk about it because he was worried he would give something away. He always just assumed that Buck never said anything because there was nothing to tell, but maybe Eddie had been wrong. Was that it? Was Buck seeing someone and didn’t want to talk about it with him?

“I don’t think I should say.” Hen finally says, interrupting his thought spiral. “It’s nothing bad, it’s just personal,” she assures him.

But what personal thing would Buck have that he wouldn’t tell Eddie? The possibility of Buck having a secret date is looking more and more possible now.

Before he can fall back into his thoughts, the alarm sounds out. “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Eddie grumbles, even as he pushes himself to his feet and follows Hen downstairs.

He’s one of the last ones in the truck, settling in the seat across from Bucks replacement as the truck pulls out of the station. Buck’s replacement- Johnson, Eddie thinks his name is- hands him his headset, and Eddie takes it with a nod of thanks. He pulls the headset on just as Bobby starts to relay the information they have about the call.

The drive downtown seems to take longer than normal, even by LA standards, and as they near the city center Eddie can see why. There are cars parked in every available parking spot on the street and people are wandering around on the sidewalk. Eddie spots a lot of them wearing pride apparel and suddenly it hits him why there’s so much traffic today. This is Pride Week, the pride parade would have just been ending.

As they continue further into the throng of people, the driver honks the horn and the crowd in front of them parts to let them through. Finally, they pull to a stop and Eddie jumps out of the back, grabbing a backboard from the truck and following Bobby through the crowd.

“Over here!” someone yells, getting their attention. Eddie looks around Bobby’s shoulder to see a tall brunette guy pushing his way through the crowd of people who have stopped to ogle at them. There’s something about the guy that strikes Eddie as familiar but before he can put his finger on why they guy is leading them back through the crowd the way he came. “Thank god, she’s over here.”

The team follows the guy a little way through the crowd until suddenly there’s an opening. It takes Eddie seconds to take in the scene, there’s a girl lying prone on the ground in front of them, a guy with his back to them doing CPR on her. Suddenly the crowd around them is no longer important as Eddie waits for his instructions from Bobby.

“Buck, they’re here,” the guy that lead them here says and Eddie’s attention shoots to him before falling back down on the guy doing CPR. It’s a coincidence, it has to be, Eddie thinks to himself, but sure enough, the guy looks over his shoulder and Eddie can finally see Bucks face. There’s a flash of nerves when Buck's eye lands on him, but its there and gone so quick that Eddie almost thinks he imagined it.

If anyone else on the team is shocked to see Buck here, in the middle of a pride parade, they don’t show it. Eddie isn’t sure if it’s professionalism or the fact that they all knew something Eddie didn’t or that they just really don’t care about Buck’s sexual orientation. Their lack of focus on it draws Eddie back to the matter at hand instead of trying to read Buck’s t-shirt. (It says Bi-erasure makes me Bi-furious, and it absolutely does not make Eddie’s heart race to see those word printed so proudly across Buck’s chest).

“What do you have, Buckaroo?” Hen asks as she and Chim kneel down next to Buck, taking over for him.

“Female, 26,” Buck starts, “she’s had two seizures in the last twenty minutes lasting four and seven minutes. She was in the middle of her second seizure when she stopped breathing, which was,” Buck trails off looking down at his phone to give them the time. Before he can give them an answer the other guy pipes up with, “She stopped breathing two minutes ago.”

Eddie stands helplessly next to Bobby as Hen and Chim work on the girl. He itches for something to do but Hen and Chim have it handled so he stands there useless, trying _not_ to stare at Buck. It’s a losing battle though.

He darts his eyes up, trying not to be obvious, but when he looks over Buck is already staring at him. Eddie flushes but doesn’t look away. There’s something in Bucks expression that looks nervous, and hopeful, and for one crazy moment, Eddie wonders if Buck might feel the same way about him as he does about Buck. Then the brunette that Buck was with starts talking to him and the moment is broken.

Eddie takes another look at the guy, trying to remember where he’s seen him before. He’s wearing a shirt that says ‘gay by birth, proud by choice’ and it makes the jealousy monster in him rear its ugly head. Did they come here together? Is Buck dating someone after all? Eddie’s so lost in his thoughts that he almost misses Chim and Hen reviving the girl and getting her loaded onto the backboard.

The crowd erupts into cheers and once they have her strapped in they all start moving again. Bobby leads the way back to the truck, parting the crowd so that Chim and Hen can carry the girl through behind him. Eddie barely has time to grab Hens med bag from where she left it on the ground and follows after them before the crowd moves around him. He takes one last look behind him, eyes drawn to Buck and the small crowd that has formed around him. He sees Buck get flustered under all the attention smiling at every one of the people who are no doubt trying to get his number. Buck looks up, his gaze finding Eddie immediately and Eddie has just enough time to watch his smile turn from his fake, crowd-pleasing smile to something softer before the crowd shifts and Eddie can no longer see him.

\---

They get a couple more calls in the hours following the call at the pride parade. They’re still nothing serious but they’re at least involved enough that Eddie has to participate in the calls rather than standing idly by. He’s relieved for it. At least when he’s working on a call he isn’t thinking about Buck, or the fact that Buck is bi, or the idea that Buck might be dating someone. Someone who isn’t him.

They’re just getting back from their latest call- a small fire that broke out when some kids decided to light off fireworks too close to their house- when he sees Buck standing in the truck bay waiting for them. Eddie almost stumbles as he gets out of the truck when he sees him. He’s still wearing his bi-furious tanktop, his shoulders looking unfairly broad under the material.

Eddie was one of the last ones out of the truck so he watched as everyone walks by Buck, saying hello and joking about how even on his day off he can’t help but save lives. Buck takes the teasing good-naturedly and Eddie hangs back until they’re the only two left.

“Hey,” Buck greets him when he finally approaches. This close up Eddie can now see that Buck is covered in glitter, a conscious choice or just a byproduct of going to a pride parade he isn’t sure, but it’s driving him crazy the way Buck at literally shining.

“Hey,” Eddie says back, not knowing just what to say to him.

“So, we didn’t really get a chance to talk earlier,” Buck says looking bashful.

“Yeah, um, let’s go over there.” Eddie points at the locker room, not wanting anyone on the team to see them for this conversation. They’ve all gone upstairs to finish the dinner they all got called away from so Eddie doesn’t think any of them would come back down, especially after the looks they-mostly Hen-shot at him on their way upstairs, but he still wants the added privacy. Buck follows him in, stopping just out of arms reach.

“So-” Eddie starts just as Buck blurts out, “I’m bi.”

Eddie’s mouth snaps shut and Buck blushes, but continues, “Sorry, I’m not really used to having to come out to people. Bobby, Hen, and Chim already knew before you moved here and it was always such a non-issue that I kind of forgot you didn’t know until I agreed to go to the parade.”

“Oh. So um, that guy you were with, is he your boyfriend?” Eddie forces the question out, trying to come across as casually interested and landing so very far from his mark.

“Josh?” Buck asks like the mere idea of it is absurd, “No, no we’d gone out on one date when Maddie first introduced us but it was so bad we both decided we were better off as just friends. He had planned to go to the parade with some friends but they bailed on him, and I’d never been to a pride parade before so I said that I would go with him.” Buck tells him everything with a shrug and now that Eddie’s heard his name, he remembers where he recognized the guy from. Maddie had introduced them at her birthday party last year. They had never really seen each other beyond that first introduction, but Eddie remembers both of the Buckleys, and even Chim, talking about him sometimes.

“So, you’re not dating anyone?” Eddie asks, letting his hope bleed through his voice. Buck takes a step closer, closing the already small distance between them.

“Well, not yet,” Buck says lowly, stopping just a hair’s breadth away from him. Eddie swallows when he sees the heat in Buck’s eyes, knowing it would be so easy to just reach out and pull him close.

“Yet?” he asks, his voice dipping low to match Bucks. He feels like he’s holding his breath as he waits for Buck to say, “Well, there’s someone I like, but I don’t know if he likes me back.”

Buck tilts his head, never breaking his gaze as he reaches out, gently curling his hand around Eddie’s waist and tugging gently. Eddie goes willingly, moving forward so that they’re chest to chest. “He does.” Eddie manages to get out before he moves up, capturing Buck’s lips with his own and moving a hand to run through his hair. Buck wraps his arms around him, kissing him back like his life depended on it, and Eddie’s world explodes into fireworks.

It’s like nothing he imagined, and he imagined it quite a bit. Buck’s lips are soft against his but his hold is firm, not that Eddie would ever think of moving away. When Eddie nips at Bucks lower lip he lets out a shuddering breath and surges back in for more. Eddie wishes he could do this forever, wishes that he could live inside Bucks embrace, but luck is not on his side today. No sooner has Eddie pulled Buck in again for another kiss when the alarm rings again. They pull apart, Eddie groaning as Buck chuckles at him.

“Duty calls,” Buck says, stepping out of his hold. Eddie misses him immediately.

“Call me later?” he asks and Buck leans in for one more kiss. “Count on it,” he says, nudging Eddie out the door. He goes reluctantly, looking back to see Buck standing there, lips kiss swollen, looking rumpled and entirely pleased with himself. By the looks Hen and Chim shoot him he’s sure he looks much the same. He knows that they’ll tease him later for it but he can’t bring himself to care. He kissed Buck, and he can’t wait to do it again.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated!
> 
> You can find me on [Tumblr](http://erandri.tumblr.com/)


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